ODDS AND ENDS

LONGVIEW, Texas (AP) — Crews in East Texas rescued two people stranded hundreds of feet in the air after a hotair balloon hit a communications tower. Officials in Longview say firefighters responding to the tower on Saturday found the balloon entangled more than 900 feet above the ground. Officials say it took rescuers about an hour to climb up to the man and woman in the balloon’s basket, and it was another hour before the pair was secured inside the tower and could begin their descent. It took nearly two more hours for them to reach the ground. Both were taken to a hospital as a precaution.